Latest Comments

I've had pizza so good it made me want to cry and laugh at the same time. But since I can no longer have cheese [insert long string of curses here], my favorite Italian dish, other than Sophia Loren of course, is a nice fresh puttanesca.

I just started making this ridiculous coconut rum cake, but I keep tweaking it and finding ways of making it better. It's kind of a pain, but totally worth it. I also make a killer corn-syrup-free bourbon pecan pie for Thanksgiving.

While I used to make sure wherever I went I tried the Caesar salad, a late-onset dairy allergy has made that impossible. But there are so many good salads! Just had one that was shredded purple cabbage, raw sweet corn, scallions, cherry tomatoes and cilantro with a sesame oil–based dressing. SO good. And sweet potato salad with toasted pecans and dried cranberries. Or baby spinach with hearts of palm and avocado and tomato and capers. Or broccoli slaw. Or warm mushroom salad. Does guacamole count as a salad? Salad is just... Mmmm.

I don't come from a family of bakers. I've had to learn that stuff on my own. But when I was a kid, we had an apple tree and my mother used to make this amazing smooth cinnamon applesauce and serve it warm. Mmmmm, sooo goood.

“Man’s mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.”

The best writing entertains, educates and incites curiosity. The best food writing is the kind that doesn’t just rate an experience—it revels in the details, invites reflection and creates an inescapable pull to live that experience yourself. Whether you’re pulled to visit an often passed-by neighborhood haunt, to rethink how you hold your chef’s knife or to try a new way of preparing a beloved dish, the significance is that you’re open to trying something new, staying flexible and increasing your breadth of knowledge. That’s the kind of growth great writing can inspire. There are so many great food writers and websites out there would be difficult to pick just one. I never know where I’ll find my next best tip or handy trick.

My favorite food writing creates an impression or a feeling, and that feeling sticks with me like a pleasant buzz in the back of my mind until I can be at that café or pick up that new ingredient or taste that new treat for myself. Eating may feel like one of life’s simple pleasures, but in truth thousands of years of trial and error—and sometimes just plain dumb luck—went into the making of everything we put in our mouths. A good writer can tip a cap to those that came before as well as celebrating those who innovate. A good writer can make the impossible-looking recipe seem suddenly possible. For those of us who know there’s always room to learn and grow, good writing is the start of each new journey. A great writer makes that journey a joy.